Brain Structure and Function

If the human brain were so simple that we could understand it, we would be so simple that we couldnt
-Emerson Pugh, The Biological Origin of Human Values (1977)

Phineas Gage
September 13th, 1848 Phineas 25 years old Rutland & Burlington Railroad, Cavendish, VT Paving the way for new RR tracks Tamping Iron
1.25in x 3ft

Phineas Gage
Accident
Quick Recovery

Months later: No longer Gage

Before: capable, efficient, best foreman, well-balanced mind After: extravagant, anti-social, liar, grossly profane

Stint with P.T Barnum Died 12 years later Watch Clip

Evolution of the Brain

Reptilian Paleomammalian Neomammalian

The Brain
Brainstem
responsible for automatic survival functions

Medulla
controls heartbeat and breathing

Parts of the Brain

THALAMUS Relays messages

amygdala

hippocampus

pituitary

CEREBELLUM Coordination and balance

BRAINSTEM Heart rate and breathing

Reticular Formation
Widespread connections Arousal of the brain as a whole Reticular activating system (RAS) Maintains consciousness and alertness Functions in sleep and arousal from sleep

The Cerebellum
helps coordinate voluntary movement and balance

The Limbic System

Hypothalamus, pituitary, amygdala, and hippocampus all deal with basic drives, emotions, and memory Hippocampus Memory processing Amygdala Aggression (fight) and fear (flight) Hypothalamus Hunger, thirst, body temperature, pleasure; regulates pituitary gland (hormones)

The Limbic System

Hypothalamus
neural structure lying below (hypo) the thalamus; directs several maintenance activities
eating drinking body temperature

helps govern the endocrine system via the pituitary gland linked to emotion
(show video)

The Limbic System

Show self stimulation clip

The Limbic System

Amygdala
two almondshaped neural clusters that are components of the limbic system and are linked to emotion and fear

August 1st, 1966

Charles Whitman

The Brain
Thalamus the brains sensory switchboard, located on top of the brainstem it directs messages to the sensory receiving areas in the cortex and transmits replies to the cerebellum and medulla

The Cerebral Cortex

Cerebral Cortex
the bodys ultimate control and information processing center

The lobes of the cerebral hemispheres

The lobes of the cerebral hemispheres

Planning, decision making speech

Sensory

Auditory

Vision

The Cerebral Cortex

Frontal Lobes
involved in speaking and muscle movements and in making plans and judgments the executive

Parietal Lobes
include the sensory cortex

The Cerebral Cortex

Occipital Lobes
include the visual areas, which receive visual information from the opposite visual field

Temporal Lobes
include the auditory areas, each of which receives auditory information primarily from the opposite ear

The Cerebral Cortex

Frontal (Forehead to top) Motor Cortex Parietal (Top to rear) Sensory Cortex Occipital (Back) Visual Cortex Temporal (Above ears) Auditory Cortex

Motor/Sensory Cortex
Contralateral Homunculus Unequal representation

Sensory Areas Sensory Homunculus

Figure 13.10

The Cerebral Cortex

Aphasia
impairment of language, usually caused by left hemisphere damage either to Brocas area (impairing speaking) or to Wernickes area (impairing understanding) see clips

Brocas Area
an area of the left frontal lobe that directs the muscle movements involved in speech

Wernickes Area
an area of the left temporal lobe involved in language comprehension and expression

Language Areas
Broca Expression Wernicke Comprehension and reception Aphasias
LEFT HEMISPHERE

Paul Broca [1800s]

Suggested localization

Techniques to examine functions of the brain

1. Remove part of the brain & see what effect it has on behavior
2. Examine humans who have suffered brain damage

3. Stimulate the brain

4. Record brain activity

Brain Lateralization

Our Divided Brains

Corpus collosum large bundle of neural fibers (myelinated axons, or white matter) connecting the two hemispheres

Hemispheric Specialization LEFT

Symbolic thinking (Language) Detail Literal meaning

RIGHT
Spatial perception Overall picture Context, metaphor

Contra-lateral division of labor

Right hemisphere controls left side of body and visual field
Left hemisphere controls right side of body and visual field

Split Brain Patients

Epileptic patients had corpus callosum cut to reduce seizures in the brain Lives largely unaffected, seizures reduced Affected abilities related to naming objects in the left visual field

Brain Plasticity

Brain Plasticity
The ability of the brain to reorganize neural pathways based on new experiences Persistent functional changes in the brain represent new knowledge Age dependent component Brain injuries

Environmental influences on neuroplasticity

Impoverished environment

Enriched environment

Sensation and Perception

Sensation
The process by which the central nervous system receives input from the environment via sensory neurons Bottom up processing

Perception
The process by which the brain interprets and organizes sensory information Top-down processing

The psychophysics of sensation

Absolute threshold the minimum stimulation needed to detect a stimulus with 50% accuracy Subliminal stimulation below the absolute threshold for conscious awareness May affect behavior without conscious awareness Sensory adaptation/habituation diminished sensitivity to an unchanging stimulus

The five major senses

Vision electromagnetic
Occipital lobe

Hearing mechanical
Temporal lobe

Touch mechanical
Sensory cortex

Taste chemical
Gustatory insular cortex

Smell chemical
Olfactory bulb Orbitofrontal cortex Vomeronasal organ?

And the seventhand eighthand ninth Vestibular balance and motion

Inner ear

The sixth sense

Proprioceptive relative position of body

parts
Parietal lobe

Temperature heat
Thermoreceptors throughout the body, sensory cortex

Nociception pain
Nociceptors throughout the body, sensory cortex

Thresholds of the five major senses

The Retina
The retina at the back of the eye is actually part of the brain!

Rods brightness Cones color